Harris County Clerk Says It’s All Systems Go

Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth is undeterred by criticism of elections in years past, saying on Monday, the first day of early voting, that her staff is ready and she doesn’t anticipate any major challenges. 

At a 10 a.m. press conference, Hudspeth announced that more than 2,000 Harris County voters had already cast ballots. 

The November 4 ballot includes 17 constitutional amendments, school board races, an at-large Houston City Council post and the U.S. Congressional District 18 contest. It’s the 12th election Hudspeth has supervised since accusations of election rigging and voter fraud — later found to be meritless — were made in 2022. 

Although an investigation by the Texas Rangers found no “widespread fraud,” an audit by the Texas Secretary of State’s office uncovered paper ballot shortages, long wait times and malfunctioning machines in 2022. A state law passed the following year dismantled Harris County’s elections administrator’s office and shifted supervision of elections to the county clerk’s office and voter registration to the tax assessor-collector. 

Critics said at the time that Senate Bill 1750, authored by Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, was an attempt by Republicans to exert more control over elections in a blue county in a traditionally red state. State inspectors were assigned to monitor the handling and counting of ballots in Harris County in 2024. 

Despite the investigation turning up no evidence that any county employees tampered with the election, Hudspeth’s team continues to combat negative publicity. Gov. Greg Abbott took a shot at Harris County elections when he neglected to immediately call a special election after the death of former Houston Mayor and U.S. Congressman Sylvester Turner in March. 

“No county in Texas does a worse job of conducting elections than Harris County. They repeatedly fail to conduct elections consistent with state law,” Abbott said in April, when he announced that Turner’s unexpired term would be decided in November. Several candidates in the Congressional District 18 race disputed the claim, praised Hudspeth and said Abbott delayed the election to minimize Democratic representation in Congress. 

Hudspeth said Monday the November election offers Harris County voters an opportunity to influence local and statewide policy. Seventy early voting locations will remain open through October 31 and roughly 600 will be available countywide on Election Day. 

Hudspeth told the Houston Press last week that “tons of things have been done since 2022” to improve voting process. 

When elections were returned to the county clerk’s office in 2023, Hudspeth assessed the equipment and determined what needed to be upgraded.

“We really got down in the trenches of addressing the major concerns that took place in 2022,” she said. “That included software upgrades to reduce the amount of paper [that] voters have to use when it’s time to scan their ballots. We went from two to three pages to just one page. We made sure we overallocated paper documents for every election cycle since then, so we’ve made sure we’ve not repeated those things.” 

The clerk then went to the Harris County Commissioners Court and asked for more equipment. 

“When you run as many elections as we do in Harris County — back-to-backs, runoffs, specials, primaries — you can’t flip all that equipment around in one swoop to go to the next election,” Hudspeth said. “You’ve got to have enough equipment for one and audit for the next and use additional equipment.” 

Elections headquarters has been in a new centralized facility on Morales Road near Bush Intercontinental Airport for about a year. At Monday’s press conference, a call center was already staffed at the headquarters building, taking calls from prospective voters. Hudspeth said her team continues to work with both major political parties and the Secretary of State’s Office when legislative changes occur, and the real heroes are the poll workers. 

“Elections simply don’t work without election workers,” she said. “We train these individuals and we provide them with all  the resources to be prepared and ready. For a November election, it can take anywhere from 12,000 to 15,000 election workers. It is a huge machine. They are the most vital part of this operation.” 

“When you see an election worker, tell them thank you,” she added.  

In addition to providing extensive training, Hudspeth said there are now more technicians at polling places to assess potential problems and deliver materials if needed. 

“Oh, like, if they run out of paper?” a reporter asked. 

“They’re not going to run out of paper,” a staffer from Hudspeth’s office responded. 

The clerk pointed out that there’s no such thing as a flawless election but said she does not “anticipate any issues.”

“One thing is for sure: every election cycle we learn something,” she said. “In terms of the voting machines, all those machines are audited and worked on. We have measures in place and we have technical support teams in clusters around the county. If something needs to be addressed or taken care of, we’re able to do it in real time.” 

“[There have been] no hiccups, no concerns, and look, if something comes up, we have technical individuals in the field,” she added. “We have dispatch units all over the place. Our teams are working really hard day and night.” 

Hudspeth encouraged Harris County residents to read published voter guides and study the sample ballots at harrisvotes.com before they go to the polls. The clerk also noted that while a mid-decade redistricting effort was approved by the Texas Legislature this summer, the Congressional District 18 boundaries remain the same as they have been for several election cycles. 

“Those changes will not take place until 2026,” she said. “If you live in and have registered in CD 18, the maps have not changed. If there is a runoff, the maps will also stay the same.” 

Those who are eligible to vote remotely have until Friday, October 24, to fill out the paperwork to receive a ballot in the mail, Hudspeth said. The next couple of weeks will be busy for the county clerk, but she said she has no doubt that she, with the help of “a huge village of people,” can pull it off. 

“Part of running elections is that it’s just kind of in your blood,” Hudspeth said. “No matter how tired you are, it’s just like this timer goes off and it’s like, OK, it’s go time.” 

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